Massa leads F1 drivers' championship after winning the French Grand Prix
23 Jun 2008
Mumbai: Ferrari driver, Felipe Massa went at the top of the Formula One drivers'championship after winning the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours on Sunday. A technical fault in Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, mid-way in the race, allowed Massa to overtake his team mate and register his third win this season. Raikkonen finished second, followed by Toyota's Jarno Trulli.
Massa, leads the standings on 48 points, ahead of BMW driver Robert Kubica on 46 points. Raikkonen is third on 43, and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, drops to fourth on 38 after failing to score a point in the race. The one-two finish in France extended Ferrari's lead in the constructors'championship to a commanding 17 points over BMW Sauber.
Incidently, Massa becomes the first Brazilian to lead the world championship since legendary driver, Ayrton Senna at Monaco in 1993.
Robert Kubica, the winner of the Canadian Grand Prix, dropped to second position in the championship chase after a fifth place finish. Mark Webber's Red Bull finished sixth followed by Renault driver Nelsinho Piquet. 2006 world champion Fernando Alonso collected the final points of the race by finishing in 8th position.
Force India drivers, Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil dissapointed yet again by finishing in18th and 19th position respectively.
The next race is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 6 July.
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